Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences, Building 32

An innovative and visually challenging structure, the Stata Center defies convention and embodies the spirit of MIT’s mission.

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Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information, and Intelligence Sciences, Building 32

32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA

Status:Complete

Themes:Innovation and collaborationRenovation and renewalSustainabilityEnhancement of life and learning

Completion:2004

An innovative and visually challenging structure, the Stata Center defies convention and embodies the spirit of MIT’s mission.

Overview

Status

Complete

Completion Date

2004

Themes and priorities

Innovation and collaboration

Renovation and renewal

Sustainability

Enhancement of life and learning

The Ray and Maria Stata Center for Computer, Information and Intelligence Sciences is built on the site of MIT's legendary Building 20, a “temporary” timber-framed building constructed during World War II that served as a breeding ground for many great MIT-originated ideas. Designed by renowned architect Frank O. Gehry, the Stata Center is meant to carry on Building 20's innovative and serendipitous spirit, and to foster interaction and collaboration across many disciplines.

The building is home to the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), and the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy. Its striking design—featuring tilting towers, many-angled walls, and whimsical shapes—challenges much of the conventional wisdom of laboratory and campus building.

When the building opened in 2004, Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Robert Campbell wrote in the Boston Globe that the building is "a work of architecture that embodies serious thinking about how people live and work, and at the same time shouts the joy of invention."

Image credits

Andy Ryan

Details

Address

32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA

Renewal Status

Completed

School or Unit

School of Engineering (SoE), School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (SHASS)